A conventional passenger aircraft includes a fuselage, a cabin interior attached to and/or supported by the fuselage, and a sound-deadening blanket positioned in between the fuselage and the cabin. As the aircraft is flown, the fuselage interacts with the atmosphere. This interaction generates vibration which, if left unchecked, will be perceived by occupants of the aircraft as sound, which is undesirable. A sound-deadening blanket is used to suppress the radiation of sound into the cabin. The sound-deadening blanket is positioned to intercept the radiating vibrations and is configured to suppress the vibrations that radiate from the fuselage towards the cabin.
The aircraft's cabin is constructed of multiple discrete components that, when assembled together, form the walls, floors, and other structural elements that are visible to a passenger on board the aircraft. The many discrete components of the cabin are attached to the fuselage via multiple attachment components. In the absence of any precautions, the multiple attachment components would form a structural pathway for the transmission of vibration from the fuselage into the cabin. To inhibit the transmission of vibration from the fuselage into the cabin via the attachment components, the attachment components conventionally comprise vibration isolators. The vibration isolators include a flexible material that is positioned in the pathway of the vibrations as they travel from the fuselage towards the cabin. The flexible material is configured to absorb or block the vibrations and to thereby inhibit the vibrations from entering the cabin where they could be perceived as sound.
The vibration isolators and the sound-deadening blanket compete for the same space in between the fuselage and the cabin. In order to accommodate the vibration isolators, one conventional solution has been to cut relatively large openings in the sound-deadening blanket at locations that corresponds with the positions of the vibration isolators. These relatively large openings, however, provide an unobstructed pathway for sound to radiate from the fuselage to the cabin.
To address this concern, manufacturers have conventionally taken one of two courses of action. Some manufacturers have cut circular holes in the sound-deadening blanket that are sized to receive the entire vibration isolator. Once the sound-deadening blanket is positioned over the vibration isolator, a worker will seal off each hole by taping the periphery of each hole to either the vibration isolator or to some other structural component. This, in effect, closes off the pathway between the fuselage and the cabin. Other manufacturers have taken a different path. Instead of cutting a circular hole in the sound-deadening blanket, a worker will cut a slit in the sound-deadening blanket and will then press the sound-deadening blanket against the vibration isolator until the vibration isolator protrudes through the slit. The slit in the sound-deadening blanket will naturally form fit around the vibration isolator and will therefore leave only a minimal pathway for the transmission of radiated sounds.
While the above described solutions are adequate, there is room for improvement. For example, sealing the periphery of each hole with tape is a labor intensive process that consumes the worker's time and causes the manufacturer to incur additional cost (e.g., the cost of the tape). While cutting a narrow slit through the sound-deadening blanket avoids the cost and labor associated with using tape to seal circular openings, the failure to tape the ends of the slit to the vibration isolator (or to some other structure) creates the risk that the periphery of the slit will move into a position that obstructs the mounting aperture of the vibration isolator. This, in turn, may interfere with attempts by a worker to engage the mounting aperture of the vibration isolator when attaching the components of the cabin to the fuselage.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method for attaching a component to the fuselage of the aircraft that permits the sound-deadening blanket to closely conform to the vibration isolator while minimizing the labor associated with the task. In addition, it is desirable to provide a method for attaching a component to the fuselage of the aircraft that inhibits the sound-deadening blanket from obstructing the mounting aperture of the vibration isolator. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.